A Close Call Part 9

It took ten minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Alex was glad of the time to get Josh out of the house and round to Fiona's. He didn't want him to witness his mummy being taken away.
Eve was still digesting what Dr Harris had told her. It didn't seem quite real, quite surreal in fact. Pneumonia was something that happened to old people not her. He must have got it wrong. She knew her body and she knew it wasn't right, but this? By now she was so weak that she was drifting in and out of sleep.
There was no siren, but she could see the faint blue lights shining through the curtains making a little light show round the walls.
The next hour was a blur, it all happened so quick. The paramedics spoke to her in a soft voice, about what they were doing, what would happen in the ambulance, but all she could do was nod. She remembered the needle, she hated needles.Steve, she thinks that was his name, said it would ease her pain. The journey to the hospital wasn't comfortable, she was aware of the bumps and the bends. It was all so clinical. How did she end up here? Josh! What was going to happen to him? Did he see her go? The drugs were starting to take effect. She felt incredibly light and her hands were tingling.It was the last thing she could remember.
Alex, followed the ambulance, all the while different scenarios were playing out in his head. Fuck! He still couldn't quite take it all in. It was a struggle to concentrate on the driving, it was a dark Friday November night, with the merest threat of rain.
Must call her brother, he thought. Must call Sam. Thankfully he had the built in Bluetooth in the car and began the arduous task of phoning those that cared.
His memory of the hospital is vague, he was led to a room, to wait, he named it the death room. It wasn't pleasant, it wasn't unpleasant, it had comfortable chairs and some pretty scenes on the wall to distract people from the reality of their situation.
It felt like an eternity he had been waiting. He called Fiona.
" How is he? Did he see the ambulance?"
She reassured Alex that he was far too busy chasing the cat to notice what had been going on outside. He was fine and was now safely tucked up in his own bed. He had even managed to charm her in to six stories!
"How is Eve?" Fiona tentatively asked.
" I don't know. I'm waiting. They've told me nothing Oh here comes someone now. I'll let you know. Thank you. I don't know how I would have managed. " Alex ended the call.
"Mr Clark, you can come through now. Your wife has the early stages of pneumonia, a day longer and it would have been a different story. We've stabilised her and are drip feeding her fluids." The doctor was still talking about IV's, pain relief and infection, but Alex had already switched off. She's ok he thought. A wave of relief went through his body.
" The next twenty four hours will be critical for Eve, Mr Clark. She's not quite out of the woods yet."
His moment of euphoria was shattered again. How much more of this can he take? He was led to the intensive care ward. Words can't describe how he felt when he saw his beautiful wife lay there. Helpless, but restful with tubes and wires. He sat down next to her and held her hand. Twenty four hours. Just a day, was that all he would have? At that moment he couldn't control his emotion any longer and wept. Don't you leave me!